Haiti Teams Up with Delta to Woo Tourists
But is the country truly ready to receive droves of foreign tourists?
OPINIONIn the last 20 years or so, I have crisscrossed Haiti, covering coups, chaos and carnivals. My visits to my beloved homeland have always been business, with an occasional escape to the beach or mountains thrown in between.
But with the country enjoying a semblance of stability, the Haitian government has been on an all-out blitz to convince foreigners that Haiti is open for business and that they should come for a visit, despite what they have heard about the mountainous, magical and troubled Caribbean nation.
Recently, Delta Airlines, which flies a daily flight from New York to Port-au-Prince, has been assisting the government in its quest to change Haiti’s image. I was one of a dozen journalists invited by Delta Airlines and the Haitian government to visit Haiti and share with our audience what they could find in Haiti.
I applaud the government’s tenacity and audacity. I left Haiti when I was 10 years old but Haiti never left me 40 years later. So I keep coming back.
I thought about the offer for a few minutes and I accepted. I had been writing about the misguided strategy of developing tourism industry with all of the problems besieging the country.
But I wanted to be fair and hear their argument and why they think developing the tourism sector is the best strategy at this time. And of course, it was nice to visit Haiti without having a deadline, or rushing from one business meeting to another.
Delta and the government put on their best face. We were whisked from one reception to another, and treated royally. My colleagues got a good sense of the best that Haiti has to offer: food, folkloric dance, a Vodou ceremony, and the Citadelle (a UNESCO heritage monument). The beaches were inviting and warm, and the people, extremely friendly.
But we also saw Haiti with all of its rawness. Despite its best efforts, the government couldn’t stop the grinding traffic, the trash, the putrid smell and a complete lack of infrastructure.
Almost four years after the earthquake, new hotels have opened, new ones are being built and existing hotels are expanding to fill the need for rooms in Port-au-Prince. I applaud the entrepreneurs who have built hotels and are seeking investors for new ones. These initiatives are long overdue
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